Maemo 6 Early Info. (Slides and info direct from the Maemo Summit)

Following on from the Maemo 5 is the first consumer-ready version of the OS. Maemo 6. Nokia have, for the first time, given some details about the capabilities of the devices and the core software. Timescales also given.

Many core elements remain the same.

Multitouch support on capacitive displays

DRM-ready OS.

Developers will be supported (of course!)

Timescales are developer focused

Nokia believes in the canvas principle. The screen is a window on the whole desktop. Panning!

Support for portrait and landscape will be there. Currently there is no portrait mode support in Maemo 5

I too am worried about DRM… and the implications of such implementations. DRM does NOTHING to stop piracy, typically it even further encourages said pirates by giving them more of a challenge to crack the DRM. All DRM does is harm the PAYING customer by doing such things as installing rootkits or limiting you to a certain number of installs… but what if you’re the type who likes to reformat often?

Also, what about the n810? Will any of these features be backwards compatable, or are nokia just forgetting about their past customers who made all this maemo stuff possible? My n810 still feels like a brand new gadget to me, and I really can’t afford to buy another one of these things any time soon. I already feel like most developers have “given up” on the n810 and the software scene feels stale… I would hate for nokia to release a new device and operating system that helps propagate the idea of abandoning development for the n810.

they already have left n810 in the dust, you can’t run maemo 5 on a n810 because of hardware restrictions, worse, nokia announced that they were going to do two more releases that supported the n810, when it was really one (diablo). however, there is a group of developers working on an operating system named Mer, that is a mix of ubuntu and maemo 4, it looks pretty interesting and is moving along pretty quickly.

I am tired of each new software house constantly making such drastic changes that it’s like going with a different company after each revision. Re-port, re-compile, left behind. Pick something and drop anchor folks. Commit to actually focusing on one system and not letting go until it is bug free. Stop making so many changes. It reminds me of an office that moves everyone around to look like they are moving ahead while the real problems still remain. You have to stay put to fix the problems. I for one am tired of abandoned hardware with a system that will never have the software fully developed to completion. Pick a target. Dare to look to the future and prepare for the long jump. Baby steps are for babies.